Let's talk theater.
Uh huh, RandyMcActorpants showed up Friday night at Joe's Pub and I'm so proud of fandom for representin' and coming back with goodies! So proud. Sniff. It reminds me of the Wicked days and I think Tracee and Gina must've seen it a million and one times to come back with so many reviews and those sound clips where we heard him sing. And it was good my friends. Oh, it was good.
But, I'll get to him later.
I saw This Is Our Youth at the Skirball Center yesterday. Now, I've never been to the Skirball Center because I didn't know anything about it. I got an ad in my e-mail since I'm part of the theatreworks newsletter and found out that the play was going to have the original NY cast record their parts. Record? Yes, record. Apparently they archive their plays and it's available to the public on their websites, itunes, amazon, etc.
That experience alone was brand new. They had three microphones set up on the stage a foot or a couple of feet away from one another, chairs next to the microphones with a glass of water on each chair and various little things on the chairs. So, there's no costumes, no set, no ... nothing. It's not a production of a play. It's like an old radio broadcast. You have the foley artist off to the right side and the performers in front reading (sometimes) from their scripts and just performing the play.
I didn't know how this was going to be. Would it be dull because it isn't an actual play? Would they be just reading from their scripts but not really performing? Should I have even bought a ticket for this thing?
No. No. And, yes!
The three actors performed as if everything was there laid out for them to use. I could imagine the scene, the setting, the environment and it was just as good as it would be with a stage. Josh Hamilton played Dennis, Mark Ruffalo played Warren, and Missy Yager played Jessica. Among the three Mark Ruffalfo really stood out as the complete embodiment of his character. One would think that it would be easy to play a fuck up of a stoner but he also played an anxious, hurt, excited, happy, pissed off twenty-year-old something really, really well. Josh Hamilton had really been great as a complete ego maniac who yells at his (ex) girlfriend, comes up with really stupid ideas, and can be just mean to Warren. I also loved how completely into it he was as if they were performing on the stage. The audience really loved that. Missy was great as Jessica. She portrayed angry, philosophical, ditzy, happy, nervous, awkward ... really well done.
The woman sitting next to me compared it to something that would be on the Real World and I agreed but I didn't necessarily see that as a bad thing. During the time that this play was created (the mid-90's) the only reality show on television had been the Real World and Road Rules and that twenty something generation had been drawn to those stories, stories about life and that was relatable. I think that it's easy for someone my age to relate to the material because it is about discovering who you are, who your friends are, who your parents are, etc. It's just a glimpse into that and it could've gone even further than it did but it was an interesting glimpse into the lives of these characters.
Overall, a really great play that I'd love to see with a set.
Oh, Randypants. I will never listen to that song the same way ever again. And as if I needed MORE of a reason to completely make fun of Total Eclipse of the Heart (Loretto circa 2002, haha) he gives me that reason! In conclusion, I love Randy and I love him even more when he's being all goofy and singing his little munchkin heart out.
I can't believe I was so calm about this appearance. You guys don't even want me to link back to my all squeed out "I just heard Randy Harrison sing" post back in 2004. You just don't.
Also in other news? I lost all of those prop auctions on ebay today! *stabz something*